Since the release, I updated about 11 sites simply using the WordPress control panel and there were no issues. And since WordPress does incremental upgrades now, it took just a few seconds. So get in there and run your update. As always, its a good idea to back up your database and site files first  If you need some help, let me know!

Hi everyone! Thanks for hosting with us and letting us help you with your web projects in 2011! It was a fun year around here and 2012 should be even better. We have a lot of plans for the hosting side of things with some new features and services. Plus, since we swapped in new servers a few weeks ago, things are really starting to hum. Hope you noticed a little extra juice in your pages loads!

Being an online-based business, we’re not really a “local” NYC business. Actually, we have clients from all over the world. BUT, it does feel like we’re local. Over the year, I’ve probably talked to or emailed with 80% of you. That’s something I don’t want to change in 2012!

A couple of things we are going to change is the frequency of blog updates, and the use of Twitter. The blog is so convenient for shooting out quick screenshot tutorials on questions that pop up, and Twitter is great for updates and as a notification system if something is happening with the hosting accounts. If you’re not already signed up, you can follow ClearDev here, and me personally here.

So, have a great 2012, and thanks again for choosing us! I’m sure I’ll see you around the web, and if you’re in NYC, let us know. Maybe we can meet up for a coffee.

Continued awesome customer service from @paulmayson at @cleardev. Check him out if you need website hosting. Used them for years now…

— Andy Bliss (@andybliss) October 12, 2011

(LOVE seeing this kind of thing!)

First, login to your ClearDev Hosting Control Panel (powered by DirectAdmin).  Then click on the “Files” icon:

Next, drill down to the folder you want to protect.  In this case, I did:  domains/paulmayson.com/public_html/testing  Then, on that folder, click the “Protect” link (easy, right?).

Now, fill in the blanks.  Add a username, password (2x please), even a login message.  Check the “Protection Enabled” box and SAVE.

Give it a test!  In your browser, try to hit that directory. In my case it was http://paulmayson.com/testing

Want to get rid of it?  No sweat.  Back to your control panel home page and find the “Password Protected Directories” link.

From there, you’ll get a list of your protected directories.  In my case, just one.  Click it and you’ll go to another screen….

Just uncheck the protection enabled box, hit save and you’re good!

Now you can work on all that top secret stuff in 2012!  Enjoy.

BUT, if you weren’t raised on PHPmyAdmin, it can be intimidating and look clunky. It’s a database so why can’t things look clean and simple like a spreadsheet? Well, with these applications, you can get a better view into your MySQL database.

• Sequel Pro (for Mac users): http://www.sequelpro.com – free
• HeidiSQL (for Windows users): http://www.heidisql.com – free

Before you can access your database up on the ClearDev web servers, there is one thing you have to do… Add a new “host” to your database to allow access.  Here’s how:

First, login to your control panel and click “MySQL Management”.

Next, you’ll see a list of your databases.  Click on the database you want to access.

Now, add a host to that database:

That’s it.  Now in your fancy new MySQL client app, the host will be your domain, and the username/password will be that of the database, or your ClearDev account password.

Hope it helps!

And a few words about and from Sonny Rollins…

Here’s a bit about the foundation:

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) was established in the United States in 1992 by Sir Elton John, and is now located in New York City. In 1993, Sir Elton also established his Foundation as a registered charity in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. These two organizations function as separate entities with their own distinct grant-making portfolios, but both pursue the same mission – to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS through innovative HIV prevention programs, efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and direct treatment and care services for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Today, EJAF is one of the world’s leading nonprofits working in this field. Together, the two organizations have raised more than $225 million in support of worthy projects in 55 countries around the world, including significant funding dedicated to programs in their respective home countries. The U.S. organization awards grants to community-based projects across the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean. The U.K. organization focuses its grant making on programs in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

You can check it out here: http://ejaf.org

Turns out one of the features of 3.2 was the ability to do incremental upgrades.  So instead of trashing your whole WordPress install and popping in a completely new set of files, WordPress just got a lot smarter.  Now it only upgrades/updates the files that changed.  I’d imagine this will let WordPress release patches and updates on a more frequent basis since it’s not such a big deal to run an update.

So, if you’re out of date, haven’t upgraded since 2.9, or are afraid to pull the trigger because everything might break, now’s a good time to get over that fear.  Make sure you backup your files (just grab them all – just in case), and back up that database (here’s a handy plugin that makes backing up the database easy and automatic) first, then go to it.